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Curious invited to try out Google Glass this weekend at MOCAD

Photo by Bridget Vis / Crain's Detroit Business
Brian Dei Dolori, 24, is a part of the Google Glass team showing off the new technology in Detroit this weekend.

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Crain's intern Bridget Vis tried out Google Glass at the event, taking some video as she did so. Here's a short take.

The latest in wearable technology is coming to Detroit this weekend. The Museum of Contemporary ArtDetroit will be the second stop on the Google Glass tour, designed to familiarize the public with Google Glass: tiny super computer inside futuristic, lens-free glasses.

"It works very similar to a smartphone, but because of the way it looks many people have misconceptions about it," said Anna Richardson White, the communications manager for Glass.

Richardson White said Glass can make phone calls, take photos and videos, get directions and search the Internet, among other functions. It can also access smartphone applications like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Everything is controlled hands-free through voice commands or by a touch of the finger on the side of the device.

Google's "Glass Explorers" program invited people to apply to try out Glass before the public launch; about 150,000 people applied, and 8,000 were accepted, including about 40 from Michigan.

"The key to Glass is to experience it for yourself," said Jamie Ladronka, a Glass Explorer from Lansing who received his Google Glass in mid-July.

He called Glass a companion device because it works in tandem with his cell phone to alert him when he receives a text or email, remind him when he has to leave or get the rundown of stock performances sent to him each afternoon.

Like all Explorers, Ladronka paid $1,500 for his device, although the price is expected to be lower once it is released to the public in 2014.

Richardson White said the Glass team chose Detroit as a tour stop because of how much Google has invested in the area with offices in Ann Arbor and Birmingham, and moving its Google for Entrepreneurs into Grand Circus Detroit LLC.

"We are excited about Detroit because its history of invention and innovation will make it a good fit to show off Glass," she said.

The Glass event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the museum. Even though the event is free, those interested are asked to RSVP on the event's website.